Best Chain Restaurants

Restaurant chains are part of most Americans’ routine dining experience and with hundreds of companies offering multiple cuisines, it can be hard to choose which place you want to visit. Things like location, the time of day, what you’re doing and who you’re with can all factor into your decision on a place to eat, so it is a good idea to keep some important features in mind regarding restaurant chains.

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Founded in 1946 under the name Dwarf House, Chick-fil-A is an American fast food chain headquartered in Atlanta. It has over 2,000 restaurants across the United States and unlike other chains, closes on Sunday.

Established in 1958 and headquartered in Plano, Texas, Pizza Hut is an American chain of Italian-American cuisine known for it’s pizza. It operates over 15,000 locations globally and employs more than 160,000 people.

McDonald’s was founded over 75 years ago and is one of the world’s largest fast food restaurant chains. Headquartered in Chicago, it has over 36,000 locations and more than 375,000 employees worldwide.

Founded and headquartered in Seattle, Washington over 45 years ago, Starbucks is an American coffeehouse chain that has gained worldwide popularity. Today, more than 238,000 employees operate over 24,000 locations globally.

Founded in 1962 and based in Irvine, California, Taco Bell is an American fast food chain known for its Tex-Mex menu including burritos, tacos and nachos. It operates over 7,000 locations and employs more than 175,000 people.

Founded in 1930 and based in Louisville, Kentucky, KFC is an American fast food restaurant known for its fried chicken. It is the world’s second largest food chain with over 20,000 locations in 123 countries.

What features matter most in chain restaurants?

How do restaurant chains offer convenient options to customers?

Fast food and casual dining restaurant chains focus on providing quick service while maintaining food quality and a great dining experience. Having multiple options for ordering food, prompt service and multiple locations to choose from can be an important deciding factor when choosing a fast food or casual dining restaurant.

Ordering: Fast food chains typically have a drive-through window option and an in-store option where you order from the front counter. Casual dining restaurants typically have a carry-out system where diners can call in to order and then pick it up.

Service: Fast food restaurants are known for their quick service; however, casual sit-down dining restaurants strive to get diners in and out quickly as well as providing prompt service and multiple kitchen staff members.

Location: Fast food and casual dining chains have can more easily attract diners if they have multiple locations in larger cities. The convenience of staying close to your current location or choosing a restaurant near the route you’re traveling is often a subconscious factor in your decision.

What kind of food choices do restaurant chains offer customers?

Restaurants that offer multiple options and varying cuisines give diners who may be craving something different from other members of their party a good selection to choose from. Even fast food restaurants who serve one style of food typically offer multiple value meals, offering different styles of hamburgers or various Mexican platters.

Menus: Casual dining restaurants offer multiple styles of food ranging from smaller dishes like appetizers, soup and salad, to dinner portions that can include hamburgers and filets. Menus are often divided by cuisine styles like seafood, Italian and steak.

Value meals: Fast food chains provide a little bit of variety on their menus by offering multiple value meals. Value meals, for example, can include different styles of hamburgers with a choice of a side item and a drink.

Healthy options: Healthy menu options are becoming an important factor when it comes to selecting a place to eat. Many casual dining restaurants have a separate menu section or menu insert that lists their healthy options. Healthy options may include low-calorie dishes or gluten-free items.

Do restaurant chains offer promotions and specials?

Casual dining and fast food restaurants try to offer quality food at reasonable prices by promoting special deals, creating specialty menus and using a good food distributor. Although prices may fluctuate depending on the price of certain food items, diners can still find good pricing on most menus they come across.

Promotions: Fast food and casual dining restaurants constantly run promotions to attract customers. Promotions can be things like buy one get one free coupons, special pricing on a new menu item, holiday-themed specials and more.

Specialty menus: Speciality menus can include things like lunch menus that have smaller portions and cheaper prices when compared to the dinner menu, as well as dollar menus or happy hour menus that offer half-priced items during a specific time of the day.

What kid-friendly options do restaurant chains offer?

Almost all fast food and casual dining restaurant chains include kid-friendly options on their menu. Some fast food places include a play area for kids to enjoy before or after they eat.

What are the different types of restaurant chains?

Fast food

Fast food chains are known for their speedy service, drive-through windows and counter service, where guests order at the front counter. Diners can eat in the restaurant or take their food to go.

Casual dining

Casual dining restaurants make up a market that is between fast food and fine dining. They provide moderately-priced menu items and table service and typically have full bar services provided by a separate bar staff.

Family-style dining

Family-style is used to describe a type of casual dining restaurant or family-friendly diner. Most family-style restaurants serve food on platters and customers serve themselves buffet style.

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Established in 1959 and based in Detroit, Little Caesars is the third largest pizza chain in the nation and operates franchises in Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Founded over 64 years ago as Danny’s Donuts, Denny’s is a breakfast restaurant known for its pancakes and being open around the clock to serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. It operates over 1,700 locations nationwide.

IHOP began in 1958 and is based in Glendale, California. It specializes in breakfast foods and diner-style cuisine and is known for keeping late hours. It operates more than 1,500 locations and employs over 32,000 people globally.

Founded in 1951 and based in San Diego, California, Jack in the Box is an American fast food restaurant chain known for its variety of burgers. Today, it has more than 2,000 locations, primarily in the western United States.

Established over 72 years ago, Baskin-Robbins is the world’s largest ice cream speciality shop. Its headquarters are located in Canton, Massachusetts and the company has created over 1,000 flavors since 1945.

Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Friendly’s is an East Coast restaurant chain specializing in sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs and breakfast food. It employs over 10,000 people nationwide.

Disclaimer

Information in this guide is general in nature and is intended for informational purposes only; it is not legal, health, investment or tax advice. ConsumerAffairs.com makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from its use.

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